May 2, 2011
Season Stats (PDF)
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The University of Maryland baseball team will play a home-and-home series with local rival Towson University this week, with the teams meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday in College Park, and then at Towson Wednesday at 3 p.m.
The Terps (20-27) won their first three games last week, holding mid-week opponents Saint Joseph's and George Mason to three hits apiece before coming back for a dramatic 13-11 win over NC State Friday night. In that game, the Terps overcame a 10-8 deficit by scoring five runs in the top of the ninth inning, as Aaron Etchison, Tim Kiene, Jake Stinnett and Jordan Hagel all came through with RBI singles.
Maryland, however, dropped the final two games of the series, including a 7-5 loss on Sunday in which the Terps outhit the Wolfpack 13 to 11.
Still, several Terrapins put together a string of good offensive performances over the last week; none more so than junior second baseman Ryan Holland, who went 7-for-16 (.438) with team highs in runs (5), RBI (5) and home runs (2). Freshman first baseman Tim Kiene (6-for-13, .462), freshman outfielder Charlie White (5-for-11, .455) and junior outfielder Korey Wacker (8-for-19, .421) also excelled offensively.
Holland and White are now tied for the team lead with identical .313 batting averages. Holland has a team-high 29 RBI, while White has scored a team-best 29 runs.
While the offense stole the show in Friday's win, it was pitching that led to a pair of wins early last week. For the first time since March 5, 2002, the Terps held back-to-back opponents to three hits or less, using strong performances out of the bullpen on Tuesday and a splendid effort from starter Chuck Ghysels on Wednesday.
Charle Haslup, Jeff Crosswhite, Jimmy Reed and Jake Stinnett combined to strike out 11 in Tuesday's 4-1 win over Saint Joseph's. Crosswhite, Reed and Stinnett kept the Hawks hitless over the final six innings. Ghysels turned in the best performance of his Maryland career on Wednesday, holding George Mason to two hits in seven innings.
-- Scouting the Tigers -
Towson, which has won seven of its past nine games, is 20-21-1 and 11-10 in the Colonial Athletic Association. Maryland has a 3-2 record against the CAA this season, having defeated Delaware once and George Mason twice, while falling to James Madison two times.
Sophomore catcher Andrew Parker leads the Tigers in hitting (.341) and is second with 31 RBI and five home runs. Nick Natoli (.322), Austin Harclerode (.301) and Chris Wychock (.301) are Towson's other regular starters hitting better than .300. As a team, the Tigers are hitting .277, which ranks eighth in the 11-team CAA.
Towson senior right-hander Zach Umberger leads the team with a 2.00 ERA in eight appearances spanning 18 innings, while the Tigers' 5.06 team ERA ranks seventh in the CAA.
The Terps split the two-game series with the Tigers last year, falling 3-1 in College Park before winning 10-5 at Towson. Maryland leads the all-time series 38-28-2.
